Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has posted selfies of himself with a Syrian refugee in Canada. He's said his country will even take refugees President Trump has rejected.
Yet, he's going to have a hard time doing so, as Canada's Safe Third Country Agreement (STC) makes fleeing to Canada very difficult. Under this agreement, if a refugee in the US wanted to escape deportation to an unsafe country and went to the Canadian border to try to secure entry there, Canada would turn them away.
According to the Law Library of Congress, although some exceptions may apply, the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement requires Canada to turn back refugee claimants who arrive at the Canadian border via the US because the US is considered a "Safe Third Country."
The Council of Canadians says it has "long opposed" this STC agreement, and that it "violates refugee rights established in Canada 20 years ago...including the right to an oral hearing before being denied entry."
Now that Donald Trump has closed US borders to refugees from around the world, Canada is likely to see an increase in refugees seeking asylum from the US, and the STC could cause many desperate people to be turned away.
Sign this petition to call on Trudeau to rescind the STC Agreement immediately. #RefugeesWelcome
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has gone to great lengths to publicize Canada’s willingness to accept refugees, even those President Trump says he will reject, at least for the next 90 days.
In order for Trudeau to live up to his claims. it is vital that he rescind the law that severely restricts his ability to keep his promises and help those who are desperately seeking asylum, many of them women and children fleeing Syrian atrocities.
Therefore we, the undersigned, insist that Prime Minister Trudeau rescind the Safe Third Country agreement, immediately!
